ICDO President condemns insecurity in the country

…calls on govt to urgently curtail the situation

By Peter Usman//:

The National President, Igala Commonwealth Development Organization, Dr. Yakubu Haruna Ugwolawo, has condemned in totality the security situation in the country, calling on the governments to urgently do something that would stem the ugly circumstances.

Dr. Ugwolawo lamented that people are no longer protected in their homes and elsewhere due to activities of bandits, kidnappers, bandits, Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen as well as farmers crisis, adding that adequate security measures need to be put in place to salvage the situation.

He said that the activities of Boko Haram, which were previously limited to the North East Nigeria have now been extended to other parts of the country, as insurgency continued to cause severe havocs and killing of innocent Nigerians, noting  that economic activities have also been disrupted.

“A lot of strange things are happening today differently from when we were young. In those days, when we were young, if anybody found one naira or one pound on the street, it has to be returned to the owner voluntarily.

“In the night, if you are travelling from Lagos to Kano, by the time you come to the border of the north, you feel very free. But today, the Boko Haram that known to be in the North East has now extended to North West, North Central, and in fact, all over the Northern part of the country and of course, they are extending to the South.

“Something has to be done and it is a holistic effort to be able to change the narration as we are going through now. In my own opinion, many people have advocated for restructuring the country, is it structure of the country that is warranting all these mayhem being carried out here and there?” he queried.

Speaking on the security architecture in Kogi state, he said going by what they are hearing, Governor Yahaya Bello has put in by way of investment, but for the singular act that he patronizes thugs coupled with internal killings have destroyed the achievements he claimed to have recorded.

According to him, “Yahaya Bello has put in by way of investment, so much into security architecture of Kogi going by what we are hearing. Unfortunately, the issue of ritual and because of political exigency, Governor Wada stopped to a serious extent the issue of thuggry in the state between 2011 and 2015. He refused to patronize thugs. He scared them away from him, but what has happened between 2015 and today, has reinvented the issue of thuggery in politics much more than even we had before.

“Whatever Governor Bello has put in places by way of contributing to security architecture must have been destroyed by the singular act of what we are witnessing today. A lot of killings taking place here and there, internal killings, they issue of Fulani Herdsmen and farmers having crisis that has reduced productive capacity of Kogi farmers came up again. I don’t think we have achieved in that direction”

On recruitment generally in the country, Dr. Ugwolawo faulted the system, saying that the system has been bastardized as due processes were not followed in the exercise. “Recruitment generally in the country has been bastardized. Recruitment into political class is only gotten by half baked individuals whose interest is to maximize their own self interest. Even recruitment into the civil service are equally been bastardized. It is on cash and carry, it is no longer on merit” he asserted.